Structure-Property Relationship of Octa-Substituted POSS in Thermal and Mechanical Reinforcements of Conventional Polymers

In this article, we describe the structure-property relationships between the polyoctahedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) fillers and the thermomechanical properties of the polymer composites using polystyrene, poly(methyl methacrylate), and ethylene-(vinyl acetate) copolymer. We used eight kinds of octa-substituted aliphatic and aromatic POSS as a filler, and homogeneous polymer composites were prepared with various concentrations of these POSS fillers. From a series of measurements of thermal and mechanical properties of the polymer composites, it was summarized that the longer alkyl chains and unsaturated bonds at the side chains in POSS are favorable to improve the thermal stability and the elasticity of polymer matrices. It was found that phenyl-POSS can show superior ability to improve the thermomechanical properties of conventional polymers used in this study. (C) 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polyrn Chem 47: 5690-5697, 2009